Companies in certain fields have long relied on freelancers when expertise is required, but the advent of the gig economy has greatly increased who hires freelancers. Almost any work that can be completed remotely can be done by a freelancer (as can much on-site work), and companies are now using these independent workers for both specialized and general tasks.
If you haven’t yet fully taken advantage of freelance workers, here are five ways that hiring freelancers could help your company.
1. Reduced Labor Expenses
Just as is true with many other aspects of business, financials are one of the foundational reasons why companies hire freelancers. When compared to the cost of a traditional employee, working with freelancers almost always costs less. Even if you pay freelancers slightly more than you would traditional employees, your company will still save on other employment-related costs. Specifically, your company won’t have to pay the following when working with freelancers:
- Health insurance premiums
- Other insurance benefits premiums
- Matching retirement account distributions
- Employer FICA taxes
- Administrative costs for benefits programs
These various factors push the actual cost of employing someone significantly higher than their wages. While some costs (e.g. benefits) might be avoided through part-time employment, hiring freelancers who work as independent contractors is the most effective method for reducing labor expenses.
2. Access to Specialized Professionals
The easiest way to access specialized professionals is through the freelancer marketplace, and this is often the only way unless your business has many employees and/or works on enormous projects.
While the proliferation of the gig economy has caused many new freelancers to offer generalized services, you still can find plenty of specialists. Whether you need a bridge engineer, underwater photographer, insurance writer, feng shui interior designer, cat snatcher, or ostrich babysitter, you can find almost any specialized professional your company might need. And while you might choose to hire an in-house specialist if you need their expertise long-term, the freelance marketplace affords the same (or better) access to specialists on a short-term or per-project bases.
3. Scalable Workforce as Your Company Grows
Every growing company faces challenges around when new employees are needed. There’s the stretch just before new employees are hired when current staff is overburdened, and then the scratch after new employees are hired when revenues don’t increase at the same time as labor costs do. While a well-managed workforce should even out in the long run, the short-term stress is taxing.
The flexibility that working with freelancers offers makes it easy to scale your company’s workforce as the company grows. Many freelancers will accept small orders, and you can send more work to them as your company has more.
Seasonal businesses also appreciate this type of flexibility. Freelance workers can be hired as the workload swells during the busiest part of the year, and then contracts can be ended as the slower period begins. Doing this with freelancers is often easier than hiring seasonal employees.
4. Reduced Employment-Related Risks
In some cases, hiring freelancers helps limit your company’s employment-related risk. These are sometimes complex matters and don’t universally apply, but your company might benefit from one or more of these risk-reducing factors:
- Freelancers may not qualify for unemployment benefits after their contracts
- Underperforming freelancers may be easier to let go of than underperforming employees
- Freelancers may not be able to file workers’ compensation claims for job-related injuries
The last factor might mean that your business doesn’t have to carry workers compensation coverage for freelancers, which itself can be a substantial savings. If something ever goes awry, the savings could be enormous if your company avoids a major claim or lawsuit.
5. Receive High-Quality Work
The nature of the freelance marketplace means that your company can easily find professionals who reliably deliver high-quality work. Both a carrot and a stick motivate them to always perform at a high level. The stick incentive stems from the size of the freelance marketplace and the low obligation that companies have. Each freelancer understands that companies can easily direct work to other freelancers, and there’s no shortage of freelancers available. Every freelancer must constantly meet or exceed expectations to receive future work.
The carrot stems from how freelancers advance their careers. A company that leaves positive reviews and/or provides referrals could help freelancers get additional work from other companies. This additional work could be more complex, more extensive, and pay more. Thus, freelancers want to please their clients so that they receive favorable recommendations for other jobs.
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